Miles: 140
Route: Flagstaff, AZ - Grand Canyon National Park - Cameron, AZ
Flagstaff, home of NAU and not much else from what we saw, was a great stopover between Sedona and the Grand Canyon: we ordered a pizza, got a good night’s sleep and grabbed coffee and bagel sandwiches - our first bagels in waaaaay too long - to take with us on our way out of town.
We made it to the National Park by mid-morning and devised a plan to spend most of the day exploring the Grand Canyon. After checking out the visitor center, we realized that our first viewpoint was just a short walk away; we didn't know we'd parked so close to the edge!
Looking north across the canyon from Mather Point.
A little further down the rim trail, looking east.
Alex had never been to the Grand Canyon and I was about 12 when I last visited so we were both pretty blown away by the landscape. Similar to Yellowstone, the park is very accessible to tourists and most of the pathways are flat and paved; that said, we found that the further we got from the Visitor Center, the thinner the crowds were. We followed the South Rim Trail for a couple miles and then stopped at the Kaibab Trailhead for lunch and another breathtaking view.
Our lunch view - amazing!
We were surprised at the number of warning signs urging hikers to be smart about the trek into the canyon. While most were geared toward those attempting to go from “rim to river and back” in a day (a no-no for even the most skilled, apparently), many were just reiterating that “what goes up must go down.” I recalled this warning from my childhood visit as I definitely tried to persuade my mom to take my sister and me all the way to the bottom. Once Rachel asked if there was an escalator to take us back up to the top, it was pretty clear we wouldn’t be going any further.
After reassuring ourselves that we could make the 3 mile roundtrip hike to Cedar Ridge - about halfway to the bottom - we headed into the Canyon. The hike down was pretty easy and we stopped multiple times to take photos since the view just kept getting better!
Descending into the canyon.
Though this trail was definitely less crowded than the Visitor Center, there were still plenty of other tourists around to take our photo!
What are the chances Alex changes his Facebook photo...?
After a leisurely descent, we stopped at Cedar Ridge to rest before beginning the significantly more difficult trip back to the top.
View from Cedar Ridge.
One more.
The hike back out of the Canyon is no joke and we quickly understood how other travelers had misgauged the energy - and water - necessary to complete the full descent / ascent in one day. Reaching the top felt like a pretty sizable victory so we took a shuttle back to the Visitor Center and picked up our car for the remainder of our Grand Canyon tour.
We drove to Bright Angel Lodge and took a few more pictures before beginning the 40-minute drive to Lipan Point for the sunset.
Had the overlook to ourselves at Bright Angel Lodge.
Right before sunset at Lipan Point.
Sunset on the Grand Canyon.
Couldn't resist pulling over at Navajo Point to snap one more!
After an amazing view of the sun setting over the Canyon, we headed east to our hotel for the night, The Cameron Trading Post. Given the late hour and middle-of-nowhere location, we were pleasantly surprised with our hearty dinner at the hotel restaurant - we even sampled a local specialty: the Navajo Taco, which is just as delicious as it sounds. Tomorrow we have another early start so we can spend most of the day in Monument Valley.